


Save Yourself

by MalachiJones (miasmicdisaster)



Category: Sugar Pine 7 RPF
Genre: Blood, Gen, Gore, Open Ending, Violence, tagged Major Character Death for open ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 06:19:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miasmicdisaster/pseuds/MalachiJones
Summary: They say right before you die, your life flashes before you eyes. A dream of children and marriage and 9-5, a simpler life, a projection of the future and of all you love. This wasn't there for Steven. All he could think was, "dear God, don't let me die. Don't let me die. I never got to apologize to Cib for all my shit. I never got to thank James for being there when I needed him most. I never got to tell Parker how much I love him."





	Save Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> request from Tumblr, but I burned myself out writing it, also it made me sad, so I varied a lot :(

The scars served as a painful reminder to Steven that he hasn't done his crew justice.

All scars have a story, and this story serves a purpose. Though a painful, scary story, it brought courage onto the seven; courage to continue throughout the many failures and the trials of their chosen careers. Of course, they didn't think this at the time. All they could think of was the unquenchable thirst for blood they had, versus, the crippling fear of losing one another to a stray gunshot.

But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's start the story where it should start.

Los Santos. May 27th. The sunset orange and brown, pairing well with the kind weather, with a high of 97 Farenheit. Slaughter Pine was tasked with a simple job: get the money and blow up the bank, and maybe Roosterteeth would lend them a couple thousand each for their effort. It was the biggest job they'd been given since joining Fakes, and no one really knew why Geoff entrusted them so much. Correction: Geoff didn't trust Slaughter Pine 7, he trusted _Steven,_ and thusfar, Steven has done a really shit job of conducting his crew. It's not that he was a bad leader, Steven managed well with the couple of "interns" he had, but the crew he had assigned _specifically_ for the Slaughter Pine gang were all street-stragglers. None had the intelligence or classiness Steven had, at least in his own opinion; all they wanted to do was get paid. They had no concept of "working as a team" - and on the rare gas station thefts they were assigned, they would ignore Steven's orders to do something silly, like pour a bunch of mentos in various soda bottles and use them at spray guns to the cops.

It was all hideously... uncoordinated, and it made Steven's skin crawl.

When tasked with the bank robbery, Steven made sure that every other day, leading up to it, the crew was at the shooting range, or sparring, or going over the plan. He made sure to take every single precaution, think of every outcome, and compensate for it. He did the math, he raked his brain dry trying to figure it out; he lived off coffee for three days straight. In his mind, and to any sane person, it was quite literally impossible for them to fail this mission.

But of course, May 27th came around, and proved them very, very wrong.

The weather was hot, and the thick cloth of the black ski-mask covering Steven's face had soaked in as much of the setting sun as it could. If it was possible, it got darker with sweat, and it felt like lava on his skin. They sat in the back of a van, leaning and bouncing each time they turned or drove over a pothole. Thinking over the plan again, Steven found it harder to breathe. He felt the familiar cold sweat easing down his back, and the tips of his fingers began to tingle and numb. He stared down at the floor, with wide eyes, overthinking everything he had planned before.

It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he looked up to see Cib's face, his ski mask pushed up on his forehead. He seemed very calm for the situation, save for the excitement that lurked behind his pale eyes. He had a hand out, holding a vape.

"Take it. It helps the nerves," Cib would say, quiet enough for no one but them to hear. Steven took it and inhaled, feeling the taste of apples and caramel on his tongue, and the smoke in his lungs. He blew out quickly, stifling a cough for a moment, before handing the device back to Cib. They ran over another large pothole, and everyone bounced in their seats.

"Jesus, Mimi! Swerve around them!" James cursed. He sat across from Cib, clad head to toe in leather, but without a drop of sweat on him. He received a swift elbow to the side from Jamie, who mumbled an insult his way that no one paid attention to.

To his right, Parker placed a hand on his thigh, at an attempt to comfort him, but it only stressed him out more. Noticing this, Parker retracted his hand, but still spoke: "It'll go fine. I'll make sure of it."

"It doesn't matter if _you_ make sure of it, it matters that _everyone_ does," Steven spat, looking down at the assault rifle in his hands. He made sure it was loaded for the second time that night. "And we have no idea what to expect. What happens if they hit the panic button? What happens if someone gets hit? What happens if-"

The truck came to a screeching stop, causing everyone to lean into each other and exclaim in shock. Their was a soft bounce as she shifted gears, then silence. "Get out, we don't have much time. I'll see you guys in the chopper."

Autumn hopped out of the passenger seat and made her way to the back, opening up the doors quickly and quietly. One by one, everyone made their way out, and she shut the door again, pounding it twice. Mimi speeded off in the van quickly.

"Comms on, everyone," Sami Jo reminded, tucking her ponytail into the ski mask. Everyone simultaneously reached up to their ears and pressed them on.

"Okay," Steven began, exhaling loudly. The initial anxiety had worn off, and the adrenaline had begun to kick in. He looked around at them. They were in a series of alleys behind the bank, damp and dark with no one in them. "James, Cib, take care of the tellers. Fill up your bags, I don't care what you have to do. And make _sure_ they don't hit the panic button. The cops are going to show up, anyways, but we need to delay them as best we can. Sami and Parker, take care of the citizens. _Don't hurt them,_ if you can help it. Autumn, get to the roof. You're look out. As soon as you see red and blue, warn us and check Mimi's location. Jamie? You and I try to bust the vault."

"You told us all this a million times," Autumn added, rolling her eyes. "We got it. Can we get to the shooting now?"

"No shooting unless we need to! It just- It's too messy, the cops'll be here quicker if shots are fired," Steven stressed, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, let's go, gang."

Autumn went one way, and everyone else went the other. The walk was silent, fill with dread and adrenaline. He wasn't going to lie; walking down that alleyway towards the city street, leading his friends behind him, loaded with guns and explosives, felt powerful. Steven felt like the king of the world, and for a moment, he forgot all about the worry he felt.

Everyone moved into the bank, and upon seeing the masks, everyone screamed in surprise. James and Cib moved forward as quickly as they could towards the tellers, pointing their guns to their face, making sure to show that the safety was off.

"Everyone on the ground!" Sami shouted, pointing her gun at the line of people, Parker following her moves expertly. "Trust me, folks, I don't want to hurt anybody innocent, but my gun doesn't know the difference."

Steven watched the initial reactions die down, making sure to wait until everyone is kneeling. He motioned for Jamie to follow him, and they both moved in, sprinting passed all the people and down a flight of stairs.

"Okay, everyone, make this quick," Steven mumbled into the comm. They traversed a few doors before they reached the vault. It was big and steel, but exactly what he was expecting. He quickly knelt to the ground and opened up his backpack, pulling out four large sticky bombs. Jamie grabbed two and placed them on the corners of the vault door. Steven placed his exactly opposite of them.

" _Shit_!" James cursed loudly in their ears, causing Steven to wince at the noise, then immediately start panicking.

"What is it? What's up?" He stammered out, grabbing the button to the sticky bombs out of his backpack.

" _They hit the bu-"_

" _Cops! Two pulling up now, more on the way_!" Autumn interrupted.

"They hit the button? They hit the panic button?" Steven asked, grabbing Jamie's hand and pulling him away from the vault quickly.

" _I didn't know! I turned for one minute!_ " Cib shouted, his voice dripping with nerves and guilt.

"Dammit, Cib! Goddammit!" Steven let go of Jamie, and they both took cover behind desks. They looked at each other for a moment, and Steven hit the button.

The sound of roaring fire and crunching metal rung his ears, and the room started to smell of smoke.

" _Swat van coming from east_!" Autumn barked out quickly.

The smoke started dissipating, and the vault door, though bent and horribly beaten, remained attached.

"Fucking shit!" Jamie cursed from his side. From behind them, gunfire broke out.

"Screw it. Autumn, plan B, get us out of here!" Steven said, motioning once again for Jamie to follow him.

They sprinted out into the lobby of the bank, and saw all hell breaking loose. Sami had begun shooting hostages, cursing loudly and ranting on about how they should have followed orders. The cops had been trickling in one by one, and Parker was shooting them down with headshots. Cib was running back and forth, helping shoot the cops and also asking James every other minute if he needed any help. Steven was about to start firing at the door when, above them, the giant glass skylight shattered completely. Immediately after, Steven saw Autumn's head pop up, and she threw down a long rope, that clattered to the floor.

"James! Get the money! Get the fuck out of here!" Steven shouted, and looked over to him.

James was shoveling handfuls of cash into separate bags, which he then tossed towards Sami Jo. She caught them and quickly tied them around her waist while Parker covered her with fire. She then ran at full speed to the rope and began climbing. After her, Parker followed, quickly climbing after her. The front doors burst open, and a small group of swat members flooded in. They fired wildly at the rope, and mostly missed, except-

A loud scream shot through the lobby and through the comm device in Steven's ear. He looked around quickly, trying to see who was shot, and he saw Parker hanging halfway off the rope, with blood dripping down his fingers. The bullet went straight through his wrist, and he was pulling himself up with his legs and one arm, trying to reach the top. Steven shot out another order he doesn't remember, because no one bothered to listen anyways. James eventually gave up and grabbed Cib's hand, pulling each other towards the rope, and they quickly climbed up it. Jamie followed them, but he took his time, wrapping his thighs around the rope and twisting it around his wrists, using one hand to start firing blindly at the police officers.

Steven felt his blood start rushing, and he quickly dug through his backpack, taking cover behind the counter. He grabbed the rest of the sticky bombs, probably about seven, and chucked them behind the counters, not bothering where the place them. He needed to blow up whatever evidence they'd left, that's what the bosses wanted. He placed his backpack near them to make sure it would get burned up in the fire.

He started sprinting towards the rope again, the trigger for the bombs in hand, but he halted to a stop.

In the distance, he heard the ever-growing barking of dogs. Before he could start moving again, they had burst through the crowd of police men. Three large rottweilers with vests on. K-9 units. _Fuck! How could I forget the goddamned K-9 units?_ They sprinted as quick as they could towards Steven, and he turned quickly to head towards the rope. For a moment, he saw Sami Jo pull the pin on a grenade with her teeth, tossing it towards the crowd of police officers. Not a moment later, it erupted, exploding and taking down most of the cops there, but the sirens still blared outside, and Steven knew more would be coming.

He was at least six feet from the rope when he felt it; the tearing and burning sensation in his heel. A loud _pop_ rung out in the air and his leg gave out beneath him. He turned quickly on his back and tried to kick the dog that had latched onto his leg. The pain finally sunk in, and he let out a scream of pure anguish, tears pricking his eyes. The second dog quickly followed, ripping into his stomach. His shirt quickly dampened with warmth and stickiness, and his screams only continued. He felt his skin tear and shred, and he began to weep. The third dog was sprinting at him, teeth baring and heading straight for his throat.

They say right before you die, your life flashes before you eyes. A dream of children and marriage and 9-5, a simpler life, a projection of the future and of all you love. This wasn't there for Steven. All he could think was, _dear God, don't let me die. Don't let me die. I never got to apologize to Cib for all my shit. I never got to thank James for being there when I needed him most. I never got to tell Parker how much I love him._

Right as he felt the wet teeth touch his throat, three gunshots fired out quickly, and about 115 pounds of dead weight collapsed onto his chest, and the teeth and claws on his body let go. The dog bled profusely, a bullet wound in his head. He looked up to the skylight and saw James standing there, looking down the scope of a rifle. He looked up for a moment, and nodded towards Steven, as if to say, _thank me later._

Steven tried to move the dog off, but his arms refused to move. He was screaming, and sobbing, and the pain hadn't stopped or eased one bit. His body became cold and useless, and all he could do was think that mantra of words.

Jamie jumped down from the bit of rope he had climbed and grabbed the dog by its vest and pulled it off Steven. "Sorry, Steve," he said, leaning down and grabbing his arms. "This is going to hurt like a bitch."

Jamie hoisted him up on his back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. The pulling of his weight tore open his wounds even further, and Steven let out another scream. His face was soaked with tears, and he nuzzled his head into Jamie's neck, trying to hide the fact he was crying. Even with his life dwindling before him, he felt embarrassed in his weakness. Jamie quickly ran to the rope and tugged on it. Everyone else had climbed at this point, and James, Parker, and Sami Jo were pulling up on the rope while Jamie climbed, trying to get him up as quickly as possibly.

The noise of a helicopter grew louder and louder, and Mimi landed on the roof. Through his own screams, he could hear Parker start crying, too. James was yelling at Cib, and Cib was dead silent, making sure to grab Steven and help Jamie carry him to the helicopter. Through his tears, he saw Sami Jo grab Autumn's hand, and they jumped onto the chopper.

Steven's back hit the metal ground of the helicopter, and it felt delightful against his hot skin. He was sweaty and cold at the same time, and his body was weak and feeble. His skin was tingling and his wounds were bleeding worse and worse every second. Autumn pulled a box out from underneath one of the seats and tore it open. She reached into her boot and pulled out a knife, grabbing a blow torch from the box. Quickly, she lit it up and held the knife to the flame. At some point, she'd lost the mask, and everyone else had, too. Steven didn't know which was worse, not being able to see his friends' faces right now, or seeing exactly how hurt they all were. Cib was fussing over Parker, trying to bandage his wrist as best he could, but he kept brushing him away, holding only a dirty rag to his wrist while he sat at Steven's side.

The helicopter whirred loudly, and they slowly tilted forward before taking off again.

Jamie reached down and pulled of Steven's mask, and he realized then just how much he had been crying. His face was red from embarrassment and his eyes were puffy. He had begun to shake, terrified. He felt a hand holding his, but he couldn't decide if it was Parker's or Jamie's. It didn't matter.

Parker reached into his other hand and grabbed the trigger for the sticky bombs, and pressed the button. Below them, the explosions were loud and continuous. Steven turned his head to the side to look out of the helicopter, and he saw the building in flames.

_I did it. I finished it._

Autumn leaned down in front of him, knife glowing red. "Steven, this is going to hurt-"

_I protected them._

He saw Parker's sobbing face looking down at him. Over the roar of the helicopter, he could hear Cib and James arguing. Mimi was screaming at them, trying to get them to stop. Jamie was holding his hand. The last thing he remembers seeing was the way the sky was brown and orange. He said two final words to no one, to the universe, as some final plea, before the searing pain of the hot knife mercifully knocked him unconscious: "I'm sorry," the only confession he could bear to give.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on tumblr, @mundej.  
> Tagged "Major Character Death" for the open ending.


End file.
